1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to ground transportation management, and in particular, to a method, apparatus, and article of manufacture for dynamically planning evacuation routes via ground transportation.
2. Background of the Invention
Many state and local agencies use Geographical Information System (GIS) databases to manage, plan, and record geographical information in their jurisdictions. For example, the placement of roads, sewers, and other municipal information that are used for planning and management purposes are kept in GIS databases. However, these GIS databases are used only to map these geographical data points for realty purposes, e.g., to know where a public road ends and a private road begins, to know where a sewer line is for purposes of repair, etc. Each municipality typically updates these databases as repairs are undertaken and completed.
Municipalities also operate safety departments such as police, fire, and paramedic services. These departments are not provided access to the GIS databases for the associated municipality, and, as such, are unaware of any changes in the database that may affect their operations or assist in managing the operations they control. For example, paramedics may be unaware that a given street is closed for repairs, and be delayed in responding to a call because the paramedics en route to an accident scene tried to use the street that is closed.
Further, current routing systems perform routings based upon static speed data. They do not take into account the dynamically changing traffic situation. At best they merely report a status, and are not integrated with a GIS system for use in planning purposes. Many mapping databases report that there is an accident on a given freeway, but do not determine any time of travel on the road, segment, or interval containing the accident. Further, these routing systems are generically determined based on only one data input, namely, a road closure. These systems do not take into account other factors such as equipment status or time of travel between two given points on the roads, segments, alleys, etc. that connect these two points. These systems also do not retain data for analysis after events have occurred to root out systemic problems or determine corrective actions.
The large GIS databases, even if combined with other services and data, do not have the capability to provide information to commercial and consumer markets for use in managing fleet and personal travel itineraries. Such access would provide lower fuel costs and shorter travel times, as well as better management of fleet resources.
Even if the GIS databases were combined with existing services, the number of sensors and other data sources used to augment the GIS databases do not provide proper coverage to accurately predict or determine the optimal route between two points. Even in large metropolitan areas, the percentage of roads monitored by sensors is a small fraction of the number of roads that are in service, and, as such, the data available cannot provide an accurate model of real-time traffic conditions.
Emergency management operations, typically deployed during times of evacuation, do not utilize GIS databases. Some typical reasons for evacuation, including hurricanes threatening an area, wildfires, biological, nuclear, or chemical attacks, have fixed evacuation routes, and use the same evacuation routes for all different types of emergencies. Emergency operations centers typically do not have access to the tools necessary to dynamically identify the optimal routes for evacuation. As such, there are typically signs marking predetermined roadways as “evacuation routes” rather than dynamic determinations of what route may be best at any given time or for any given emergency. More complex incidents, such as wildfires and terrorist attacks, are more dynamic in nature, and the optimal evacuation plan cannot be predicted due to uncertainties in how the emergency will unfold prior to the actual event.
From the foregoing, it can be seen, then, that there is a need in the art for interconnectivity between the GIS databases and other sources of data. It can also be seen, then, that there is a need in the art to provide access to the combined GIS database for management and operations beyond the municipal schema for use by emergency personnel to determine evacuation routes. It can also be seen that there is a need in the art for a method of dynamically determining evacuation routes based on the imminent or ongoing emergency.